When NVIDIA unveiled its new 7600 GT (May 2005, page 42) we were suitably impressed with the performance. But the results were from a reference card and we couldn’t be entirely sure retail versions would match up. But after putting Inno3D’s card through its paces, we can confidently say that NVIDIA has created a card that will rival the popularity of the venerable 6600 GT in its prime.

It really is that good: just look at the price compared to the rest of the mid-range NVIDIA cards. It undercuts the 6800 GS, GT and even the plain 6800’s price. And given that the 7600 GT beats all three for performance, it’s easy to see why you wouldn’t consider any other card at this price point.

The 7600 GT GPU has 12 pixel pipelines and five vertex shaders. While this doesn’t sound all that powerful, the 560MHz core clock and 700MHz memory are big numbers at this level. It returned a perfectly playable 39fps in Far Cry at 1280 x 1024. This lines up nicely next to ATI’s new X1800 GTO, which scored 36fps. The results are reversed in Call of Duty 2: the GTO handles it with an average frame rate of 31fps compared to the GT’s 26fps.

We pushed the resolution up to 1600 x 1200 and the 7600 GT still kept going. Although scores of 24fps and 18fps in Far Cry and Call of Duty 2 respectively aren’t playable, turn the quality levels down from maximum and at least some games will be playable.

In terms of features, Inno3D provides a basic bundle including WinDVD 5, WinDVD Creator 2, a DVI-to-D-SUB converter as well as a composite output adapter. The card itself has S-Video output and two dual-link DVI ports.

At this price, there’s simply nothing that provides serious competition. ATI’s Radeon X1800 GTO has a similar specification, is a slightly better performer and boasts video-capture capabilities, but Sapphire’s version costs $128 more than the 7600 GT here. Unless you need video inputs and like the look of the games on offer, the Inno3D 7600 GT is the clear winner of the mid-range cards.